Panthers finish 5-3 at OBU tourney

June 10, 2011

Terek Beaguard, 8, hands the ball off to running back Tamario Beaguard during a spring scrimmage. The Benton Panthers won five games during a 7-on-7 tournament at Oucahita Baptist University Thursday.
JOSH BARRON/Courier

In a 7 -on- 7 tournament at Ouachita Baptist University, the Benton Panthers finished with a record of 5-3 over two days.
The Panthers lost to Lake Hamilton twice and to Shiloah Christian. On the first day, they defeated Sheridan 12-10, lost to Lake Hamilton 24-22, lost to Shiloah Christian 28-12 and defeated Kirk Academy, a school from Mississippi, 30-0.
On the second day, Benton lost to Lake Hamilton 28-10, but defeated Shiloah Christian 20-2, Camden 28-22 and Warren 12-8.
â€śIâ€™m real proud of our guys,â€ť head coach Scott Neathery said. â€śWe some back up guys and some young guys come in and play and they played hard.
â€śIâ€™m super proud of them.â€ť
Sophomore defensive backs Ryan Rodriguez and Phillip Woods both had to play Thursday as other players had previous commitments to basketball and baseball.
â€śThese are some big wins for us,â€ť Neathery said. â€śBecause some of these schools play seven on seven all the time.â€ť
Benton left Friday to play in a tournament at Harding University, where they will played about four or five games and then will finish up the tournament today.
On Monday and Tuesday, the Benton Panthers will travel to Conway High School for a team camp, where they will wear should pads and helmets and compete in 11 on 11 games.
â€śWe will do a lot of situational plays,â€ť Neathery said. â€śSuch as 1st and 10, 3rd and long and 3rd and short for about two and a half hours.
â€śWe will get to work on real football such as block and tackling. It also gives us a chance to work on our run game and our tackling.â€ť
Other schools competing at the team camp are Conway, Morrilton, Beebe and Little Rock Christian.
Last season, the Panthers competed in a 7-on-7 tournament at Fountain Lake and at a league camp in Conway in July. This year, Benton will play in four tournaments including one at Fountain Lake again and at Henderson.
In July, they will also participate in a team camp which will include Glen Rose, Arkadelphia, Hot Springs and Malvern.
â€śWe have really beefed up this summer with football,â€ť Neathery said. â€śWe are trying to get better at what we are doing.â€ť
Neathery said these 7-on7 tournaments help on the passing game but more importantly they help with the secondary play on defense.
â€śWe can do different coverage types and a lot of it is due to these 7-on-7 tournaments,â€ť Neathery said.
The Benton Panther football team will be hosting a passing camp and a lineman camp at the new Benton Panther Athletic Complex on Wednesday and Thursday for students entering the 4th-8th grades.
The passing camp will begin at 8:30 a.m. and last till 11:30 a.m. and the lineman camp is from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Each camper should bring athletic clothes, cleats and students entering in the passing camp should bring a proper size football.
Each camper will have the opportunity to learn passing and catching skills as well as the skills required for success as an offensive or defensive lineman from current and former Panther football players and coaches.
Registration will begin at 8 a.m. on Wednesday June 15 for the passing camp and at 12:30 for the lineman camp.
For more information, please contact coach Jason Gentry at jgentry@bentonschools.org or at 870-656-0384 for the lineman camp. For the passing camp, contact coach Rusty Davis rdavis@bentonschools.org at 681-7685.